Editorial: Our hopes and wishes this Christmas

Ventura County Star
Published 5:00 a.m. PT Dec. 22, 2018

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Sandy Fuller and her husband, Ed Fuller, who lost their house in the Thomas Fire, have moved into their rebuilt home on Scenic Way in Ventura. A celebration was held at their home Tuesday morning.(Photo: CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR)Buy Photo

Christmas is a time of faith and hope and giving. Even non-Christians can celebrate this spirit of sharing and of believing the best in our lives is yet to come.

We’ve had some rough moments in 2018, but we have come together to comfort and find strength in each other. In this spirit, we’d like to share some of our Christmas wishes for Ventura County this year.

We wish the victims of the Thomas, Woolsey and Hill fires continue to find the support, resources and commitment they need to rebuild their lives. The Thomas Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Ventura and surrounding areas only a year ago, yet at least two families already have rebuilt and moved back into their homes. Victims of the Woolsey and Hill fires, which destroyed more than 1,600 structures last month in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, are just now embarking on this process, and many will need much resolve and support in the coming months and years.

We wish all those affected by the Nov. 7 mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks — friends and relatives of the 12 innocent people killed, as well as those at the bar who survived the shooting — find some peace and warmth this holiday surrounded by their families and community. Some have lost loved ones, others their sense of security, but they will never be alone.

We wish that no one in our county spends Christmas sleeping on the streets, without a home. This year’s count found 1,299 homeless people in Ventura County — almost 13 percent higher than in 2017. The cities of Oxnard and Ventura are finally making progress on opening temporary and permanent shelters, and we hope other cities follow their lead.

We also wish housing was more affordable in Ventura County. Our median home sale price is nearing $600,000 and rising faster than any other county in Southern California. Rents are so high that the county was named one of the 10 least affordable places in the nation for renters last year. The county’s aversion to growth is driving up prices and keeping companies and jobs away. We hope our lack of housing doesn’t devour all of our economic vitality in the coming years.

We wish for greater unity, civility, tolerance and compromise — both locally and nationally. We hope the divisions sowed by this year’s failed attempt to recall four Oxnard City Council members are a thing of the past. We hope the Ventura Unified School District can heal the wounds surrounding David Creswell, who resigned as superintendent over a 2016 sermon perceived as anti-LGBTQ. Most of all, we hope our nation once again finds compromise, common ground and civil discourse in its political heart — with President Donald Trump leading the way to unity.

Finally, we wish every person in Ventura County shares in the abundance of the holidays. The Star has been helping the Salvation Army collect holiday donations for the needy for nearly four decades now, through our Julius Gius Bellringer campaign. We’ll be collecting donations through Christmas Day, publishing donors’ names and memorial messages, and absorbing all expenses. Every penny raised goes to the Salvation Army to help local residents in need. You can make checks out to the Salvation Army Southern California Division and send them to Bellringer, c/o Ventura County Star, 771 E. Daily Drive, Suite 300, Camarillo, CA 93010; or contribute using a credit card at vcstar.com/bellringer2018.

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